“It’s not itself a product of globalisation but the internet has certainly transformed the potential for schemes because people have got used to supplying their credit card details or responding to international calls even if in some cases they think they’re dealing with someone in their own country.”

Yah. It’s like that. And in some cases the smooth-talking internet hucksters can and do make all sorts of claims (‘top’ this, ‘most successful’ that, ‘most-trusted’ the other etc.) without people checking up on them … until it’s too late.